Providing voice messages through dual access points

ABSTRACT

A voice message service provider enables users to access voice messages through a first access point for creating voice messages and a second access point for retrieving the created voice messages. In one implementation, a user calls the first access point to create a message, and the voice message provider indexes the created voice message with a message retrieval telephone number and one or more recipient identifiers. A notification message containing the message retrieval telephone number is sent to the intended recipient to provide notification of the voice message. The intended recipient may retrieve the voice message by calling the message retrieval number contained within the notification message and providing the recipient identifier. The voice message service provider identifies the voice message associated with the message retrieval number and recipient identifier and returns the voice message to the intended recipient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/823,079, filed Aug. 21, 2006, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. The Field of the Invention

Implementations of the present invention relate to systems and methodsfor storing and/or delivering voice messages.

2. The Relevant Technology

Current voice mail systems generally require a user to listen to orotherwise manage each received voice message, such as in a chronologicalfashion. For example, when a user receives a call but is unable toanswer, conventional voicemail systems might record a voice message fromthe caller, store the voice message in a voice mail inbox for therecipient user, and send an alert to the recipient user. Upon receivingthe alert, the recipient user might then dial a voice message accessnumber, upon which the voice messaging system might provide therecipient user with one or more options for retrieving the voicemessage. For example, the voice messaging system might prompt the userto supply one or more security codes to access a specific voice messageinbox. After doing so successfully, the recipient user may then beallowed to scroll through the stored messages in the voice messageinbox, and listen to the most recently received message, as desired.

Unfortunately, going through the voice messaging system to retrievevoice messages from a single voice message inbox can be inefficient. Inparticular, conventional voice messaging systems tend to provide littleinformation in a voice message alert other than the mere fact that avoice message has been received. Thus, a user is often alerted that avoice message has been received, but may not be able to determine theidentity of the source of the voice message. Adding to thisinconvenience is the notion that conventional voice messaging systemsoften require a user to listen to several headers/options beforeactually playing back any given message.

For example, after successfully logging into a voice messaging inbox,conventional voice messages might initially present option informationsuch as, “To get messages, press ‘1.’” After selecting “1,” theconventional voice messaging system might then present additional headerinformation, such as “Call Received [Date] at [Time], from [PhoneNumber—if available] . . . to listen to this message, press ‘1.’” Onlyafter pressing “1” again might the conventional voice messaging systembegin to play back the message. These sequences of steps can delay theimmediacy by which a user hears a given voice message. Furthermore, ifthe recipient user is expecting a particular voice mail, and the voicemessage being played back is not what is expected, the recipient usermay need to skip the message being played, and go through theaforementioned steps—potentially several times—until retrieving theexpected voice message.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Implementations of the present invention solve one or more problems inthe art with systems, methods, and computer program products configuredto provide users with direct access to specific voice messages usingdual access points. In one implementation, for example, a voice messagesender calls a first access point, such as a telephone number of a voicemessaging system, and leaves a voice message. The voice messaging systemmay then associate one or more recipient identifiers with the voicemessage, such as a caller ID of the intended recipient's phone, and alsoassociates a message retrieval telephone number with the voice message.The voice messaging system then sends a notification message containingthe message retrieval telephone number to the intended recipient. Uponreceiving the retrieval message, the recipient user can access the voicemessage directly via a second access point by calling the messageretrieval telephone numbers provided in retrieval message and submittingthe recipient identifier, such as the caller ID for the recipient phone.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a method of delivering avoice message. The example method may include receiving a voice messagefrom a sender that is directed to an intended recipient. In addition,the method may include assigning a message retrieval telephone number tothe received message. The method can also involve correlating theassigned message retrieval telephone number and the received voicemessage to a recipient identifier. In such a case, the message retrievalas telephone number will be unique compared to the message retrievaltelephone number already assigned to other voice messages stored for therecipient, such that each combination of a recipient identifier and amessage retrieval telephone number is unique. A single message retrievaltelephone number may be assigned to voice messages for other intendedrecipients. The method can further involve preparing and sending anotification message to the intended recipient of the voice message,where the message includes at least the retrieval phone number.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a method of retrievingvoice messages by a handheld device. The method may include receiving anotification message from a voice message provider. As described above,the notification message notifies the intended recipient of a voicemessage addressed to the intended recipient and includes a retrievaltelephone number. The handheld device receives an indication from theintended recipient that the voice message is to be retrieved. Uponreceiving the indication from the intended recipient, the handhelddevice automatically calls the retrieval telephone number included inthe voice message. Finally, the handheld device is provided access tothe voice message by the voice message provider.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained bymeans of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. These and other features of the present inventionwill become more fully apparent from the following description andappended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention asset forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the invention briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not thereforeto be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will bedescribed and explained with additional specificity and detail throughthe use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a voice message service provider, inaccordance with an implementation of the present invention;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example overview schematic diagram in which auser creates a voice message to be delivered to another user inaccordance with an implementation of the present invention;

FIG. 2B illustrates the example schematic diagram of FIG. 2A in whichthe created voice message is delivered to the intended user inaccordance with an implementation of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 illustrates flowcharts of example methods in accordance with animplementation of the present invention from the perspective of a voicemessage service provider and of a user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Implementations of the present invention extend to systems, methods, andcomputer program products configured to provide users with direct accessto specific voice messages using dual access points. In oneimplementation, for example, a caller calls a first access point, suchas a telephone number of a voice messaging system, and leaves a voicemessage. The voice messaging system can then associate one or moreunique identifiers with the voice message, such as a caller identifierof the intended recipient's phone. The system sends a retrieval messageto the intended recipient to notify the recipient of the arrival of anew voice message. The retrieval message may include a retrieval phonenumber, that when dialed, calls a central location via a second accesspoint to retrieve the voice message. Therefore, upon receiving theretrieval message, the recipient user can access the voice messagedirectly simply by calling the number provided in retrieval message andsubmitting any of the one or more unique identifiers, such as the callerID for the recipient phone.

Accordingly, one will appreciate that implementations of the presentinvention can provide a great deal of efficiency with regard to creatingand sending voice messages. In particular, a user can listen to aspecific voice message directly, rather than having to first interactwith multiple system interface options.

In addition, and as will be understood more fully herein,implementations of the present invention can easily be modified toinclude such features as voice as message threading. For example, arecipient may receive a notification with regard to the arrival of avoice message. Upon listening to the voice message using the secondaccess point, the voice message service provider can further provide therecipient with an option of responding to the voice message. Uponcreating a response voice message, the voice message service providermay send a second notification to the sender of the original voicemessage that includes a unique message retrieval number for the replymessage, as well as additional information to indicate that the replyvoice message is a response to the original voice message.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example voice message service provider 100is illustrated for receiving and managing voice messages. The voicemessage service provider 100 includes a first access point 106 and asecond access point 108. The first access point 106 may be used forreceiving new voice messages from voice message senders 112. The newlyreceived voice messages may be stored in the voice message database 102.The second access point 108 may be used to allow voice messagerecipients 114 to access the voice messages 102.

When a new voice message 102 is received from a voice message sender112, a voice message manager 116 may associate the newly received voicemessage with a message identifier, a recipient identifier and a messageretrieval telephone number, and may store the associated data in anindex 104.

After the newly received voice message is stored in the database 102 anda new entry is placed in the index 104, the notification module 110sends a notification message to the intended recipient 114. Thenotification message may include the message retrieval telephone number,as well as a brief notice of the newly received a message.

The intended recipient 114 may retrieve the newly received voice messageas by dialing the message retrieval telephone number included within thenotification message. Upon dialing the message retrieval telephonenumber, the voice message service provider 110 checks the index 104 toidentify the appropriate voice message, and sends the voice message tothe intended recipient 114 via the second access point 108.

Referring now to FIG. 2A illustrates an overview schematic diagram inwhich a user (i.e., “User A”) creates a voice message (e.g., 220)intended for another user (“User B”). For example, User B is presentlyunavailable, or User A would simply prefer to leave a voice message thatUser B can access at a convenient time. To create this voice message,User A calls a first access point 230 provided by the voice messageservice provider (“VM Provider”) 200 directly. In one embodiment, thefirst access point 230 may be accessed by a user by dialing a predefinedtelephone number (i.e., “[AA]”) that is dedicated for receiving callsfor creating voice messages. Thus, the access point can be called by asender of a voice message directly, or alternatively, in otherimplementations, a phone service may automatically transfer User A tothe first access point 230 upon detecting that User B is not answeringthe phone.

Upon dialing the access point, FIG. 2A shows that User A connects to VMProvider 200 through the first access point 230, which is used to createvoice messages. In one implementation, for example, the first accesspoint 230 includes any number of interfaces so that when User Aconnects, the first access point 230 provides one or more responseoptions for creating and sending the voice message. For example, in oneembodiment, and referring again to FIG. 1, a user may log in using anauthentication module 118 by providing appropriate authenticationinformation (e.g., caller ID, numerical or voice-based password, etc.).However, logging in may as only be required when the caller desires toaccess personalized information, such as an address book 120.

Referring again to FIG. 2A, User A may be prompted to submit informationfor identifying an intended recipient (e.g., User B). For instance, theuser may submit the telephone number or other identifier for identifyingUser B. In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, the voice messageservice provider 100 may include an address book 120 containing contactinformation for one or more users of the system. Therefore, referringnow to the FIG. 2A example, User A may select the intended recipientfrom a list of contacts included in an address book 120.

In one embodiment, voice recognition may be employed by the VM serviceprovider 200 such that the user may simply recite the name of theintended recipient, i.e., “User B.” The first access point 230 may thenconfirm the identity of the intended recipient by providing anadditional response to User A's phone, such as, “You have requested‘User B.’ If this is incorrect press * or say ‘no’.” The user may alsobe given the opportunity to submit the names of multiple intendedrecipients such that a single voice message can be sent to multiplepeople. Upon submitting the identities of all intended recipients, theuser is prompted to recite the voice message. Thus, FIG. 2A shows that,at an appropriate point, User A recites voice message 220 through atelephone. For example, FIG. 2A shows that the User A recites, “Meet meat noon.”

Upon completing the voice message, VM Provider 200 then stores the voicemessage and creates an entry in the index 240. As described previously,the index 240 may include a reference 202 to the message, a reference tothe intended recipient 204, and a reference 206 to a retrieval telephonenumber. The retrieval telephone numbers 206 may be selected from apredefined list of retrieval numbers, as that when dialed by a specificuser, may retrieve a message intended for that specific user. Whenassigning a retrieval number 206 to a message, the VM service provider200 will typically assign a unique retrieval number to each message sentto a single intended recipient. Therefore, the retrieval numbers may beassigned to multiple messages that are each intended for a differentrecipient.

By way of example, the index 240 includes references 202 to previouslystored voice messages 205, 210, and 215, which are intended for users“C,” “A,” and again to “A,” respectively. Furthermore, FIG. 2A showsthat VM Provider 200 has assigned each message 205, 210, and 215 toretrieval phone numbers “[BB],” or “[CC].” Thus, phone number “[BB]” hasbeen assigned to message 205 for User C, as well as to message 215 foruser A. Furthermore, phone number “[CC]” has been assigned to message210 for user A.

As illustrated in the current example, it is not necessary that eachretrieval phone number 206 assigned to the voice message 205, 210, 215,220, be unique, since each retrieval phone number is also associatedwith an intended recipient 206 such that each entry in the index 240 isa unique combination. That is, each retrieval phone number 206 can beassigned to several different voice messages within index 240 that areeach addressed to a different intended recipient. Therefore, any givenintended recipient user will typically have a different retrieval phonenumber for each voice message in index 240 that is addressed to thatintended recipient. In the event that a recipient user receives morevoice messages than then number of predefined retrieval telephonenumbers, the system 200 may begin assigning retrieval telephone numbersto multiple messages for that user.

After generating an entry for the newly received message (e.g., 220) inthe index 240, the VM Provider 200 sends a retrieval message 245 to thetelephone 208 as (or other appropriate device) of the intended recipient(i.e., “User B”). For example, User B may have submitted userpreferences to request that retrieval messages be sent to his or hercellular/mobile phone 208. Alternatively, User B may have registered anemail address or other means of receiving an audio file other thannecessarily telephonic delivery mechanisms. In another embodiment, UserA may specify the manner in which the notification message will be sentto the intended recipient (“User B”), for example, by providing atelephone number for the intended recipient, which may be stored in theaddress book 120 (FIG. 1). In this particular example, User B receivesthe notification message 245 via a cellular telephone 208.

In general, the retrieval message 245 may include any type ofnotification that is appropriately formatted for the receiving device.In some cases, for example, message 245 may include HTML, Javascript, orotherwise interface-appropriate formatting. The message 245 may alsoinclude other common messaging formats, including SMS (“Short MessageService”), MMS (“Multimedia Message Service”), IM (“Instant Message”),and the like.

In the present example illustrated in FIG. 2A the VM service provider200 sends the notification message 245 to only one intended recipient,User B, because User A only indicated a single recipient. Had User Aindicated multiple recipients when creating the voice message 220, theVM service provider 200 may send a notification message to eachidentified intended recipient, where each notification message isspecifically formatted for the registered receiving device, and includesa retrieval telephone number that is specific for each intendedrecipient. In one embodiment, where a single voice message is sent tomultiple recipients, only a single copy of the message is stored in thedatabase 102, and each notification message 245 relates back to thesingle copy of the voice message.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the notification message 245 may include anindication that User B has received a voice message. The message 245further includes a retrieval phone number (i.e., “[CC]”) for retrievingvoice message 220. In this or alternative implementations, message 245can further include information to inform User B that the voice messagewas received from User A, date and time information for the voicemessage, as well as an indication of whether the message was sent toother recipients and/or the identities of the other recipients.

Message 245 can also include message thread information regardingwhether message 220 is a response to a previous message (and/or whocreated the previous message), is a forwarded message, and the like forindicating how the message 220 fits into a given conversation thread.One will appreciate that adding these sorts of text to notificationmessage 245 can reduce the delay that may otherwise accompany theretrieval of a voice message because reading text header informationtends to be much quicker than listening to audible header informationfrom a voice message service.

Such minimization of the retrieval phone numbers is possible at least inpart since the intended recipients will generally be easilydifferentiated when calling the VM Provider 200 to retrieve theirmessages. For example, when User B calls phone number “[CC],” the phonenumber from which User B calls may also send caller ID or ANI (automaticnumber identification) information. This information may be used by theVM service provider Similarly, when User C calls the phone number “[BB]”User C's phone may send a different caller ID or ANI information. Thisrecipient information is used, in combination with the message retrievalphone number dialed by the recipient to identify the appropriate voicemessage.

In certain cases, such as where caller ID or ANI information may beunavailable or insufficient to uniquely identify a particular user, VMProvider 200 may collect a numerical password, a private keyword, or thelike for identifying the recipient. Alternatively, the recipient maysubmit his or her telephone number (if this information is not alreadyknown by the VM service provider 200) for identifying the recipient. Inany case, the VM service provider 200 searches the index 240 for therecipient identifier 204 and the message retrieval telephone number 206received from the recipient's phone (e.g. User B) to identify themessage is to be played back to the recipient.

To retrieve a particular message, in one embodiment, User B may simplyselect a link containing the retrieval phone number provided in thenotification message 245. In addition or in the alternative, User B maypress a “send” key on a telephone 208 while the notification message 245is being displayed in the telephone's display. Alternatively, User B maymanually dial the retrieval telephone number “[CC]” provided in thenotification message 245 to initiate a telephone connection with thesecond access point 235.

As shown in FIG. 2B, for example, User B initiates a telephonicconnection with a second access point 235 by dialing the providedretrieval phone number assigned to the voice message 220 (i.e., “[CC]”).The voice message service provider 200 identifies any indicia providedby User B such as User B's caller ID, ANI information, or, if notavailable, requesting some other form of unique identificationinformation (e.g., voice or keypad based passwords/secrets). Uponidentifying the appropriate indicia from User B, the voice messageservice provider 200 searches the index 240 to determine that message220 is to be retrieved. Message 220 is retrieved and returned to UserB's phone via the second access point 235. Accordingly, FIG. 2B showsthat User B's phone plays message 220 “Meet me at noon,” after dialingthe provided retrieval phone number.

As such, FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a number of components, modules andschematics for creating and retrieving voice messages through twodifferent, unique access points. Implementations of the presentinvention can also be described in terms of flowcharts of methodscomprising one or more acts for accomplishing a particular results. Forexample, FIG. 3 illustrates an example method 300 from the perspectiveof VM service provider 200 and User B for delivering and retrievingvoice messages. The example method illustrated in FIG. 3 is describedbelow with reference to the components and schematics described in FIGS.2A and 2B.

The method 300 includes receiving, at 302, a voice message from a voicemessage sender directed to an intended recipient. As shown in FIG. 2A,for example, User A establishes a connection with the first access point230 of VM service provider 200 and creates a voice message 220. Themethod 300 further includes, at 304, storing the voice message.Referring again to FIG. 1, the voice message may be stored in a database102 at the VM service provider 100.

The voice message is then correlated to a retrieval telephone number andto a unique ID for the intended recipient, as denoted at 306. Forexample, and referring to FIG. 2A, upon receiving the voice message fromthe sender, the VM service provider 200 may assign the retrievaltelephone number to the voice message and the recipient's unique ID, andstore the correlated data in the index 240. The unique ID may include acaller ID, ANI information, or some other form of identification forUser B.

The method 300 further includes, at 308 preparing and sending anotification message that includes the message retrieval telephonenumber to the intended recipient. For example, FIG. 2A shows that VMProvider 200 prepares and sends message 245 to User B's phone (or otherregistered recipient device). Message 245, may include textual headerinformation to notify the intended recipient that the voice message 220has been received, the identity of the sender of the voice message 220,and/or any date/time information. As previously mentioned, thenotification message 245 may also include enhanced information, such aswhether message 220 is part of a general thread of messages, or thelike.

The notification message sent from the voice message provider is thenreceived by the intended recipient (User B), as denoted at 310. Forexample, FIG. 2B shows that User B's phone receives the notificationmessage 245 from VM Provider 200, where the message 245 includes atleast a notification that a particular voice message has been receivedfor User B. In addition, FIG. 3 shows that the method 300 may furtherinclude calling, at 312, the retrieval phone number contained in thereceived message. The call may be automatically initiated when the usersmobile telephone receives an indication from the user that the voicemessage is to be retrieved, such as when the user selects thenotification message and/or a link to the message retrieval telephonenumber contained in the voice message. For example, FIG. 2A shows thatmessage 245 includes one or more references to retrieval phone number“[CC],” which, when combined with an identifier for User B, is uniquefor the message 220. Thus, to access message 220, FIG. 2B shows thatUser B calls the provided retrieval phone number “[CC]” and connects tothe second access point 235.

FIG. 3 further shows that the VM service provider 200 identifies thevoice message associated with the retrieval telephone number and theunique ID for the intended recipient, at 314. For example, upon dialingthe provided retrieval phone number “[CC],” and after having sent anyappropriate unique indicia, such as caller as ID, ANI information,shared secret(s) or the like, VM service provider 200 may locate theappropriate voice message by searching the index 240. The method 300then sends the voice message to the intended recipient, at 316. Forinstance, and referring to FIG. 2B, the VM service provider 200 returnsthe uniquely assigned message 220 to User B's phone (or appropriatedevice). Upon receiving the voice message, User B's phone then playsback the voice message sent from the voice message provider, at 318.

As such, implementations of the present invention provide a number ofschematics, components, and methods for creating and retrieving voicemessages through two or more access points (a send access point and aretrieve access point of a voice message provider). One will appreciatethat such schematics and components can provide a number of efficienciesover conventional voice messaging systems, at least in part since userscan simply dial a unique telephone number associated with a particularvoice message. Furthermore, one will appreciate that such efficienciescan also be realized since much of the header information that wouldotherwise be audibly presented to a user by a voice message interfacecan be placed into a text notification. As previously mentioned, suchtext can include not only who created the voice message, but otherinformation such as date, time, length of message, and/or whether themessage relates to another message (or is in response to anothermessage), etc.

The embodiments of the present invention may comprise a special purposeor general-purpose computer including various computer hardware, asdiscussed in greater detail below. Embodiments within the scope of thepresent invention also include computer-readable media for carrying orhaving computer-executable instructions or data structures storedthereon. Such computer-readable media can be any available media thatcan be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media cancomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to carry or store desired program code means inthe form of computer-executable instructions or data structures andwhich can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.When information is transferred or provided over a network or anothercommunications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combinationof hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views theconnection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions anddata which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function orgroup of functions. Although the subject matter has been described inlanguage specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, itis to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appendedclaims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actsdescribed above. Rather, the specific features and acts described aboveare disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. At a voice message provider, a method of retrieving delivering voicemessages to an intended recipient, comprising: receiving a voice messagefrom a sender directed to an intended recipient; storing the voicemessage in a database; assigning a retrieval telephone number to thereceived voice message; correlating the retrieval telephone number andthe received voice message to one or more recipient identifiers foridentifying the intended recipient; preparing a notification messageincluding at least the retrieval telephone number assigned to thereceived voice message; and sending the notification message to theintended recipient that, when selected by the intended recipient, causesthe voice message to be retrieved from the database.
 2. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the notification message, when selected bythe intended recipient, automatically retrieves the voice message fromthe database by automatically dialing the phone number assigned to thereceived voice message.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, whereinassigning a phone number to the received voice message further comprisesselecting the phone number from a predefined list of message retrievalphone numbers.
 4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein selectingthe phone number from a predefined list of message retrieval phonenumbers further comprises selecting one of the message retrieval phonenumbers that has not already been assigned to another voice message forthe intended recipient.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, whereincorrelating the retrieval telephone number and the received voicemessage to one or more recipient identifiers for identifying theintended recipient further comprises storing the correlation between theretrieval telephone number, received voice message, and recipientidentifiers in a searchable index.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein preparing a notification message including at least theretrieval telephone number assigned to the received voice messagefurther comprises including thread information for the voice messagewithin the notification message.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein preparing a notification message including at least theretrieval telephone number assigned to the received voice messagefurther comprises preparing at least one of a short messaging system(“SMS”) message, a multimedia messaging system (“MMS”) message, aninstant message (“IM”), and an email.
 8. The method as recited in claim1, further comprising: receiving a telephone call from the intendedrecipient, the telephone call being initiated by the intendedrecipient's selection of the notification message which dials theretrieval telephone number included in the notification message;identifying the voice message correlated to the retrieval telephonenumber and to the recipient identifier; and sending the voice message tothe intended recipient.
 9. The method as recited in claim 8, whereinreceiving a voice message from a sender directed to an intendedrecipient further comprises receiving the voice message from the sendervia a first access point, and wherein receiving a telephone call fromthe intended recipient further comprises receiving the telephone callfrom the intended recipient via a second access point, wherein the firstaccess point is distinct from the second access point.
 10. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the recipient identifiers include at leastone of a caller ID for the intended recipient, a telephone number forthe intended recipient, and a username or password for the intendedrecipient.
 11. At a handheld device of an intended recipient and in acomputerized environment in which intended recipients receive one ormore voice messages from senders through a voice message provider, amethod of retrieving voice messages, comprising: receiving anotification message from a voice message provider, the notificationmessage notifying an intended recipient of a voice message stored at acentral storage location and addressed to the intended recipient, thenotification message including a retrieval telephone number; receivingan indication from the intended recipient that the voice message is tobe retrieved; automatically calling the retrieval telephone numberincluded in the voice message; and accessing the voice message from avoice message provider.
 12. The method as recited in claim 11, whereinreceiving a notification message from a voice message provider furthercomprises receiving at least one of a short messaging system (“SMS”)message, a multimedia messaging system (“MMS”) message, an instantmessage (“IM”), and an email.
 13. The method as recited in claim 11,wherein accessing the voice message from a voice message providerfurther comprises receiving the voice message and audibly playing thevoice message.
 14. The method as recited in claim 11, whereinautomatically calling the retrieval telephone number included in thevoice message further comprises calling the voice message providerthrough a first access point that is different from a second accesspoint used by voice message senders to send messages to the voicemessage provider.
 15. The method as recited in claim 11, whereinreceiving an indication from the intended recipient that the voicemessage is to be retrieved further comprises detecting the selection ofthe notification message by the intended recipient.
 16. The method asrecited in claim 11, wherein automatically calling the retrievaltelephone number included in the voice message further comprises sendinga recipient identifier for identifying the intended recipient.
 17. Avoice messaging system, comprising: a first access point configured toreceive a voice message from a voice message sender directed to anintended recipient; a storage device configured to store the voicemessage received from the voice message sender; an index configured tocorrelate a message retrieval telephone number to the voice message andto one or more recipient identifiers for identifying the intendedrecipient, wherein each combination of a given message retrievaltelephone number and recipient identifier is unique; a notificationmodule configured to send a notification message to the intendedrecipient, wherein the notification message includes the messageretrieval number correlated to the voice message, that when dialed,enables the intended recipient to access the voice message; and a secondaccess point configured to receive a call initiated by the intendedrecipient by dialing the message retrieval telephone number contained inthe notification message, and further configured to return the voicemessage correlated with the recipient identifier and the retrievalnumber to the voice message recipient.
 18. The system as recited inclaim 17, further comprising an authentication module for logging in thevoice message sender.
 19. The system as recited in claim 17, furthercomprising an address book containing the voice message sender's contactinformation, the contact information including a delivery mechanism fordelivering the notification message to the intended recipient.
 20. Thesystem as recited in claim 17, wherein the notification message sent bythe notification module includes at least one of a short messagingsystem (“SMS”) message, a multimedia messaging system (“MMS”) message,an instant message (“IM”), and an email.
 21. The system as recited inclaim 17, wherein the recipient identifiers include at least one of acaller ID for the intended recipient, a telephone number for theintended recipient, and a username or password for the intendedrecipient.